After he managed 14 yards Sunday against the NFL's top run defense, there's some good news for 49ers running back Frank Gore: He gets Green Bay next.

A year after surrendering 323 rushing yards in a playoff loss to the 49ers, the Packers' defense clearly hasn't patched all of its holes entering Sunday's wild-card game at Lambeau Field.

In the Packers' final nine regular-season games, their 25th-ranked run defense allowed an average of 157.2 yards and 5.2 yards a carry. Seven opposing players rushed for 100 yards in that span. Green Bay's 1,415 rushing yards allowed since Nov. 4 are 120 fewer than the 49ers allowed all season. In addition, those seven 100-yard rushers match the total against San Francisco in its past 73 games, dating to 2009.

When it was noted that, statistically, the Packers own one of the NFL's worst run defenses, left guard Mike Iupati suggested the 49ers were preparing to meet the Fearsome Foursome.

"It doesn't matter about the stats," Iupati said. "It just matters about that day, that game. You can have the worst stats and it comes game day and you can ball out. They have a great defense."

That tag might be more fitting for Arizona, which limited Gore to a season-low 14 yards on 13 carries in the 49ers' 23-20 win Sunday. With Gore going nowhere, the 49ers turned to quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who produced his second 300-yard passing game in 23 career regular-season starts.

Of course, the Packers know Kaepernick can make defenses pay for training too much of their focus on Gore and the NFL's third-ranked rushing attack. In a 34-28 season-opening loss to the 49ers, Green Bay, determined to avoid another 323-yard embarrassment, limited Gore to 44 yards on 21 carries. The trade-off: Kaepernick threw for a career-high 412 yards, and Anquan Boldin had 13 catches for 208 yards.

"Obviously, the Cardinals did a great job last week of shutting down the run game, but that opened up other opportunities," left tackle Joe Staley said. "We're not a one-dimensional offense. We can do a lot of things well."

The Packers will have to stop the run Sunday without the services of All-Pro outside linebacker Clay Matthews, who rebroke a thumb on Dec. 22 and needed a second surgery. Matthews originally broke the thumb on Oct. 6 and had pins surgically inserted. On Monday, Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy said Matthews wouldn't play against the 49ers.

In Matthews' absence, the Packers will turn to Andy Mulumba, an undrafted rookie who made three regular-season starts. Mulumba is so anonymous that Staley wasn't sure how to pronounce his last name. However, the Central Michigan graduate did know where Mulumba attended college.

Gore, 30, probably will welcome Sunday's competition after he finished his ninth season with a career-low 4.1 yards a carry. Gore, who didn't miss a game, battled an ankle injury during the second half of the season and managed 3.8 yards a carry and one 100-yard performance in the final 10 games.

In 2012, however, Gore also ended the season on a quiet note - averaging 3.7 yards a carry in his final five games - before looking quite spry in the playoffs.

In three postseason games, he averaged 106.3 rushing yards a game, 5.1 yards a carry and had four touchdowns. That playoff run, of course, began against the Packers, who surrendered 119 yards to Gore.

Given Green Bay's recent woes, the stage appears set for Gore to reprise that performance.

For his part, Staley hopes the offensive line paves the way: "We always go in with the mind-set, regardless of who we're going against, that we feel we can rush the ball against anybody."

Run over

The Packers have allowed seven 100-yard rushers in their past nine games: